Fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, and other home hazards pose significant and ongoing risks to families, individuals, and pets in households across the country and around the world. There is a continuing need to provide more effective safety devices and methods to reduce injuries and death.
One existing problem in need of a better solution is how to quickly awaken sleeping occupants in the event of a household emergency. One approach to this problem is to increase the volume of noise generated by a traditional alarm. However, this is not feasible as a very loud noise volume may result in hearing loss to persons who are close to the alarm. Moreover, irrespective of the volume of the alarm, some recent research suggests that a generic alarm tone is not effective in awakening sleeping individuals, particularly children.
Another approach to the problem of waking sleeping occupants is to move the detector of the emergency condition into the bedrooms and sleeping chambers, so as to better awaken the sleeping occupants therein. However, in this arrangement the advantage of early warning against fire and/or smoke or carbon monoxide by a unit situated outside of such rooms is lost. By the time an alarm in the bedroom detects smoke, fire, or carbon monoxide, it may be too late for the alarm to be effective in avoiding injury or death.
An additional problem exists for people with selective hearing loss. Presently, emergency alarms in the home employ a single frequency alarm or tonal buzzer, which may not adequately be heard by persons having a selective hearing loss or deficiency in that particularly frequency range.
Yet another problem is the tendency for a person in an emergency situation to fail to react quickly, properly, and effectively to the circumstances. A person may become panicked, confused, and/or suffer from loss of focus or concentration, and may not clearly analyze the gravity of the situation and/or understand what action should be taken. Thus, it is all too common that precious and critical time is lost, wrong actions are taken, or even no action is taken.
Finally, many families and individuals will benefit from an easy-to-use safety device. Safety devices that children can understand and readily respond to are more likely to be used by families. This in turn may cause families to discuss safety with household members, make a household safety plan, and practice emergency procedures.